Fountain pen



July 9, 1935,.- c. K. LOVEJOY FOUNTAIN PEN Filed Feb. 25, 1934 J72warrior iiarlep' 12!. Love x 4 ml Patented July 9, 1935 T FFICE v 3 V'16 claims, This invention relates to improvements in fountain pens..-IMore particularly it relates to-fountain pens wherein. the pen barrelconstitutes the reservoir 1 .for ink; and wherein the=expulsion ofair-and induction of-zink for filling are accomplished by a series ofback. and .forth movements of an element at therear end of thereservoir; The invention provides an improved filling mechanism for:'suchpens and a generally improved pen structure; r v i Fountain penswherein. the barrel constitutes the reservoir havegreater ink capacitythanthe so-called sack pens, inwhich a sackinsi'de'or" the barrelcontinues to hold the ink that=has been drawn in by its ownexpansion.In' that type of barrel. reservoir with which the invention isconcerned, there is a pump 'action by which a few cycles of pump strokeaccomplish a filling of the pen. Simple piston pumps are notsatisfactory,becausewith lapse'of time the packing is apt to leakandthevalve to get out of. order. Pumps are already known in which adeep flexible diaphragm replacesfthe piston, sealing the rear end ofthe-Den barreLJ itha piston rodthere to push the'middle part' in andout. If valves are provided, or if the passages at thepen end are builtsothat air can escape more readily than ink, the barrel will retainapproximately all of the ink which enters, and a succession of-strokeswill fill the barrel with ink.

present inventiondispenses with the piston and its strokes'i although itstill may be said to have a species of pumpaction, for it works by asuccession-of strokes; the effect of each of which is to changethevolumetric capacity of the barrel. But these. strokes'are; rotatory.

Numerous-advantages follow from this,-among which are a larger inkcapacity in proportion to the outside'dimensions of the pen barrel; "areduced requirement of longitudinal" dimension for the installation andaction of the filling apparatus; adequate clearances and elimination ofV disorders'during use, so that parts do' not need to he made removable;andbetter control by'the' operator Of his executing of the fillingstrokes. 'In a pen of thistype the' invention provides improvements inthe constructing, mounting and actuating of elasticsack-meansfor varyingthe displacement of the ink reservoir; including a' clutch 'bywhich'the-barrel tip'is convertible functionfrcm cap to pump-handle. 1

Also the invention provides improvementsfin the forward end of the pen,whereby the filling is efiicient, and the feed of ink for writingv issure.

A passage which serves both for vent, of air filling and for'intake ofair in normal use of the pen for writing; and for inflow of ink in'filling, may be associated with the ink feed passages for writing,independent of these latter. v'Ihisassures a flow, of ink for writingwhich isboth immediate and sure, because the said vent pas-' sage-isalways open for air to enter the barrel.

- The pump is a twist-sackunit for 'which the invention providesanchorage in a readily accessible place close to theend of the'barrel;or it may, indeed, be carried in-a. removable plug. The'sack is are-entrant ballooned wall of the reservoir which condenses toward theaxis when its interior end is twisted bythe operators turning theexterior clutched handle of the twistrod, thereby drawing ink into thereservoir; and

which balloons when released, thereby reducing the reservoir capacity,drivingiout air, and making the sackrready for the sucking in of more:

Housed within the barrel cap is a clutch memher on the twist-rod, at alost-motion distance 7 from its engaging clutch member that is on thebarrel cap; during which lost motion the cap, by screw "threads providedelsewhere, can be screwed to or froma firm seating against the end ofthe barrel. But when it is thus unscrewed from the barrel the clutchmembers are close together, and a spring drives them into mesh; andthecap then becomes a knob'or. handle for turning the interior twistrod ofthe sack; while an inturned flange prevents the cap from escaping, sothat it cannot become mislaid, lost or accidentally roll off upon thefloor.

"Ihe twist rod may have. thrust bearings so as to prevent longitudinalmovement of the end of the sack to which it is connected. 7

At the writing end small ink feed passages extend from the bottom" ofthe reservoir beside a largerpassage which'cornes from the'tdp part ofthe reservoir where the air is when the reservoir.

barrel is h'eldin filling position orin writing posi-' tion. This largerpassage being always'open to atmosphere at the'heart of thepen, theflow'of air inward when the point of the pen is touched to paper, can beinstantaneous, permitting equally instantaneous outward flow of ink forwriting. [Therefore ink cannot prevent air flow by becoming too viscousin a small passage, as a,

it has to rise to near the top of the reservoir before it can escapefrom that tube into the reservoir. Therefore both the ink and the airworks by the pump to move through this larger passage.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression inthe appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist inthe invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a medial longitudinal section of a fountain pen embodyingfeatures of the invention, with all parts in place for normal use of thepen for writing;

Figure 2 is a medial longitudinal section on a plane at right angles tothat of Figure 1, with the barrel cap backed away from the barrel andclutched to the twist-rod, the sack being shown as contracted by beingtwisted;

Figure 3 is a transverse section on 3'-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view,'in transverse section acrossthe, ink feed passages;

Figure 4 is a transverse section on 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a transverse section on 5-5 of Figure 2;

. Figure 6 is a medial longitudinal section of the barrel end portion ofa fountain pen, showing a modified form of securing and guiding meansfor thepump actuating mechanism;

Figure '7 is a medial longitudinal section of the barrel end portion ofa fountain pen, showing a. simplified form of pump actuating means; andFigure 8 is a transverse section through a pen barrel having a springfor aiding return of the twisted sack, the section being on a linecorresponding to 88 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, the barrel l0 may .be of any suitablematerial, preferably sufficiently transparent to show how much ink iswithin. At the forward end is a finger grip portion l2, as is usual,with a bushing I4 fixed therein, for reception of the feed bar I6 andshank of the writing pen 18.

The feed bar I6 is represented as having a single rather large groove20, best seenin Figure 3, in which lies a tube 22 which comes down fromthe remote end region of the reservoir 23, where one end of the tube isopen, and runs through the groove to the heart I! of the pen 18, whereits other end is open. The shank of the pen directly overlies this lowerpart of the tube. The laying-of this round tube 22 in the U-groove 20.results in side spaces 26, 26, Figure 3, between the tube and thewalls, of the groove; and these spaces, one on each side of the tube,constitute the feed grooves for ink .to the heart ll of pen l8. Ink forthe feed never closes the end of the air tube. stroke the feeding of inkis never delayed by the inability of air to enter to-replace that ink,incontrast with other constructions in which the air has to enter througha body of ink at the feed, which, by a period of non-use, may becomeless fluid, and so may unduly obstruct the entrance of fair, whichfacilitates immediate starting of feed of ink.

Under normal conditions when writing, ink

'- passes to the writing point through the passages at the region24expands the reservoir by its Own Therefore, upon the beginning ofwriting contraction to the form seen in Figure 2, and contracts thereservoir by its own ballooning to the form seen in Figure 1, escapesmostly through this same relatively large passage 22, which leadsdirectly fromthe upper part of the barrel reservoir 23 where the air iswhen the pen is held with its point down; and the major portion of inkwill enter the reservoir through this same larger and friction-freepassage 22. Such little ink as may be forced out with the air throughthe small and high-friction passages 26 is so inconsiderable, that therepeated working of the pump now to be described fills the reservoirrapidly.

The pump operates by a twisting of a cartridge shaped flexible rubbersack 28 which, in the arrangement illustrated, is open toward the topend of the barrel I0 where the rim of this sack is sealed and secured tothe barrel wall, either directly by any suitable means, or indirectly,this being the arrangement illustrated, by means of a ring piece 30 towhich the rim of the sack can be secured such as by cement, while thering piece itself is secured tightly to the interior wall of the barrel.The manner of effecting these connections is largely optional; and itmay be considered that the ring 30 is so permanently secured in thebarrel as to be not removable except by some process of destruction. Therepresentation therefore may be considered to be a welding, if thebarrel and ring piece be of materials which can be welded together; orit may be of such a tight pressed fit to be of like efiect; and it is afeature that the place of union between the rim of the sack and thebarrel of the pen is thus accessibly located close to the very end ofthe barrel where suitable operations can be executed. If, however, it bedesired to have the pump sack removable that can readily be provided bymaking the ring 30 loose within the barrel I0 and either mounting it ona screw plug 44, which fills the open end of the barrel and seals thesame by its screw joint which may be made tight by any suitable deviceand yet be removable, in which case the ring 30 and sack 28 would comeout with it. Or the ring 30 may be integral with this plug 44. All ofthese alternative forms are illustrated by the same drawing, Figure 1 orFigure 6, where the ring 30 in immediate'proximity to the barrel I0 andto the plug 44, or 44' of Figure 6, to either of which it may be securedby either of the methods mentioned, or by other methods.

When arranged as thus illustrated, however.

its mouth may be secured, the body of the sack constitutes adisplacement of space from the reservoir 23, the volume of whichdisplacement can be changed by shrinking the side walls of the sacktoward the axis, as in Figure 2, by twisting the bottom of the sackwhile its mouth remains rigid with the barrel and the ring 30, withoutmoving either end of the sack from its fixed location. This can be doneby a back and forth turning of the barrel cap 32 when that cap is set toact as a pump or handle, as will now be described. Interiorly of thesack, at its closed end, is a disk plate 34, which may be cemented orotherwise rigidly secured to that part of the sack. This plate may havea non-round recess of any sort to serve as a socket for receiving theend of an axial twist-rod 36whose rotation can thus turn the disk 34 andso turn the attached portion of sack. As shown, this disk has internalteeth 35, and the end of rod 36 has teeth 31 for engaging in them. V

' considering that, in the construction illustrated,'

its ends continue at a fixed distance apart, and

The connectionof barrel: cap 32 "toltwist-rod 35 y is marked 4!); andthe other member of the clutch 42 ,is rigid on the end of thetwist-rod'36. 'The tube 401s housed within the cap32, 'exceptas it projectsthencetoward the reservoir-part of the barrel intoa' loose socket 46 for it inthe exterior face of the sealing plug 44. This proiecting endv reservoirfor a helical spring. which is sprung upon the twist-rod 36 which atthisregion has a strengthening casing 4T tightly secured upon it forcarrying the clutch member 42 andtransmitting the rotary movementthereof to the rod 36.. This spring urges the flange 4! with attachedinto engagementwith the clutch' member 42 and the latter is set farenough out, by making a.v 1 suitable length of twist-rod 36 at whose enditis', so that this'engagement does not occur until projecting end 45'ofthe rigid plug i lw'l herefore, to set thedevice for operation of the'pump,

the .user merely unscrews the barreljcap 32 until it is free, so far asits screw.mounting is concerned, whereupon the spring 48 sets the.clutch Imembers together and the cap" is thus automatic'ally connectedto the disk 34 at the bottom of the sack inthe interior of thereservoir. =Aiturning of'the cap 32 between ones fingers then twists thesack 2B from the positionv of sack, shown in Figure, l', to=that shownin Figure 2,'where' the sack has been collapsed toward the axis by theresistance to escape of air in this manner being greatly less than thefrictional resistance to escapeof any considerable body of'ink throughthe small ink passages 26. A collar 50 secured on the twist-rod 36provides an abutment against thescrew plug 44 which prevents thetwist-rod from moving longi-f tudinally outward; and'this collar maycarry a as to what is an appropriate length o'f stroke. The sack 28 maybe of lively rubber, flexible enough to be wound closelyo-n: the axialrod when that red and the cap clutched thereto are twisted, and tostretch as much as is necessary,

elastic Y enough to I return promptly to its initial the shapeis notnecessarily cylindrical as shown.

The passage of air from and to the sack, when thus collapsed andballooned, the rod 36 maybe tubular, having vent holes 39 within thesack,

thus passing air: to the interior of the cap; 32'

when it communicates freely with atmosphere past theloose-fittingclutchconnection and other parts in that vicinity. V

; In the arrangement illustrated, if the sack 28 and its mouth ring arefirst secured together they can be-inserted through the opening of thebarrel i0 and the ring secured by welding or,

other permanent attachment in the position 11-. I lustrated in Figural.The open end of the barrel being thus sealed by an irremo-vable sealing,the actuating mechanism may beput into place in the plug 44 beforethatisinserted in the'barrel, the insertion'being afterward accomplishedby screwing the plug 44 to itsseat against the ring 30,- accomplished byuse of a suitable man sorted through that lower end, so that the clutchclutch member 38. and cap 32 outward from the 'pen'barrel, tending'topush. clutch 'member'38 member 31 can rotate freely with the screwing ofthe plug until that is seated,. whereupon a releasing of the forcepswill let the clutch member, havingthe socket, settle back, into en"gagement with the non-round, tooth or other shaped element 31, on thetwist-rod, where it will beheld by elasticity of the sack 28.

ations reversed, without touching the permanent seal. However, if it bedesired that the sealing sack ancl'joint at this end of the pen beremovablethat can easily be accomplished by a con struction in which thesack is mounted on the plug 44 either directly or through asealing ring,as illustrated,-the screw joint of this plug 44 then constituting thebarrel seal on. the unscrewing of which the entire pumping apparatuscomes out.

In Figure 6, a modified form of pump assemblyis represented wherein theactuating mechanism may be inserted withoutthe suggested drawingforwardof: the sack from the forward end of thebarrel. Here the sack and theactuating mechanism may be exactly as in the first described form. 'Theplug 44 of Figure 1 is in two parts, in Figured, one of which, the rodguiding the sleeve 44', fits loosely in the barrel against the mouthring 38 of the sack, and does not rotate while the other 41 carries thescrew thread and-screws into the barrel and clamps the sleeve in place,and carries the thread 45' for reception o-f-the end cap 32. 7

Although here shown with the sack mouth facing'outward' of the adjacentbarrel end, and the sack open'to atmosphere rather than open to thereservoir, it will be observed that the holding ofone end of the sackrigid and the twisting of its other end, by a barrel cap with clutchwhich the described apparatus accomplishes,

does .not depend upon the direction in which the sack mouth lies, norwhether the rod 3t be long or short, to apply its twist at the far orthe near end of sack; and that in a broad sense it does not matter whichend, is held and which is twisted. i

Also there may be choice in thearrangement of-xth twist-rod, which, asillustrated, is detachable from its rotatory connection at both ends.

As illustrated the attachment to the sack is in- I I The actu- V 'atingmechanism can then be withdrawnat any 7 7 time for examination or repairby similar opertended to remain during normal condition; and theattachment to the cap is made or broken operatively before the penfilling or the pen using. But the operative clutching and unclutch ingis not necessarilyv at this end of the rod; and the clutching andunclutching might be directly between the rod and the sack disk 34,where one form of clutch is illustrated. In that case, and especially ifthe rod 36 were permanently attached to the bottom of the sack the plug44 might be omitted, with its immediately adjacent parts on and aroundthe rod andwithin the cap, leaving a simple sack 28 permanently sealedto the barrel at 30 and open toward the barrel end, with the capscrewing upon the barrel instead of upon the plug, and the rod 36 freeto be turned by hand when the cap is removed, operating as a pump, inconnection with the differential friction that is at the pen end of thebarrel, by varying the displacement of the reservoir 23 as the rod 36 istwisted and the sack 28 is collapsed or ballooned.

Such a pump and actuator is shown in Figure 7 the sack 28' being securedon a ring '30 which may be welded in a celluloid barrel H). A simpletwisting rod 36' has its inner end secured to the inner end of sack, andreaches rearward beyond the barrel end to where its finger grip knob 35is accessible by removal of cap 32'. A disk 44 fast on the rod, centersit loosely in the ring 39 and the pin which is shown holding this diskcan cooperate with a shoulder (not shown) on the ring for limiting theextent of twisting.

Figure 8 which refers more especially to the type seen in Figure 2 has ahair spring indicated at for aiding return of the sack after a twist- Inthe working of the apparatus as a pump it is an especial feature thatthe tube 22 extends to the heart H of the writing pen. Therefore air canalways freely reach and enter the tube dur ing normal writing, withouthaving to work its way along a narrow passage containing ink, with theoccasional blocking of the passage by the skin tension surrounding astranded air-bubble. This complete separating of air passage from inkfeed passage makes a pronounced diiferential of friction of ink and airin their respective passages, which results in ready outflow of airrather than ink at each pressure stroke of the pump, and effectivepen-filling, even though strokes be executed at only a moderate pace.The air does not have to be impelled with high velocity and pressure toburst its way out through a passage filled with ink, and this preventsany substantial outflow of ink during pump operation. The ink can flowfreely during normal writing, because air vacuum of the reservoir,holding back ink, is kept low, since the tube 22 permits air to entereasily as needed for replacing the ink which is flowing out for writing.When being filled, the twisting of the sack draws the ink in mainlythrough tube 22, over whose top it pours into the bottom part of thereservoir, leaving the top of the tube open in interior for air outgo onthe next ballooning.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and havingan impervious wall extending into the reservoir; and a rod reachingendwise into and engaging torsionally a deep part of the sack, therebyby twisting the sack to change displacement of the reservoir; therebeinga device movable in axial direction for connecting anddisconnecting power.

2. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and havingan impervious wall extending into the reservoir; and a rod reachingendwise intoand engaging torsionally a deep part of the sack, thereby bytwisting the sack to'change displacement of the reservoir; there being adevice movable in axial direction for connecting and disconnectingpower; the said connecting device being located interiorly of the sackat the place of engagement of the rod therewith.

3. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and havingan impervious wall extending into the reservoir; and a rod reachingendwise into and engaging torsionally a deep part of the sack, therebyby twisting the sack to change displacement of the reservoir; therebeing a device movable in axial direction for connecting anddisconnecting power; there being a cap for the barrel end, and the saidconnecting device being located exteriorly of the sack and within saidcap, whereby the cap constitutes an operating handle.

4. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, havingat one end passagesfor ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within, supportedat, and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and having animpervious wall extending into the reservoir; and a rotatable elementengaging torsionally the sack, thereby by twisting the sack to changedisplacement of the reservoir; a cap for the sack end of the barrel; andmeans for connecting the cap operatively to the rotatable element as ahandle for applying torsion.

5. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and havingan impervious wall extending into the reservoir; and a rotatable elementengaging torsionally the sack, thereby by twisting the sack to changedisplacement of the reservoir; a cap for the sack end of the barrel; andmeans for connecting the cap operatively to the rotatable element as ahandle for applying torsion; said means being a clutch, in which theelements engage by relative movement in axial direction.

6. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and havingan impervious wall extending into the reservoir; and a rotatable elementengaging torsionally the sack, thereby by twisting the sack to changedisplacement of the reservoir; a cap for the sack end of the barrel; andmeans for connecting the cap operatively to the rotatable element as ahandle for applying torsion; means holding the cap aligned both with thebarrel and with the clutch, the positions of respective engagement beingby movement in opposite directions from a neutral position.

7. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented toward the other end of the barrel,

reservoir; and a rotatable element engaging torhaving at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack,located'within,supported at,'and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and'havingan impervious wall extending into i the reservoir; and rotatable elementengaging .torsionally the sack, thereby by' twisting the sack tochangefdisplacement of the reservoir; a cap for the sack end of thebarrel; said rotatable element being a rod, axially located, protrudinginto the cap, and having a clutch member therein; said cap having anaxial tube holding a cooperating clutch member; and there being lostmotion of travel between the clutch elements coordinated with a positionof the cap for screw engagement of the cap with the barrel; I

9. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined witha twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented towardthe other end of the barrel, and havingan impervious wall extendinginto the reservoir; and a rotatable elementengaging torsionally the sack, thereby by twisting the sack to changedisplacement'ofthe reservoir; a cap for the sack end of the barrel; aclutch in the cap, set to engage the rotatable element when the cap isremoved from the barrel; and a spring urging the cap to clutch engagingposition.

10. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a twist-sack located within theother end of the barreland constituting a flexible impervious wall ofthe reservoir; means for twisting the sack; a cap at the sack end of thebarrel;

and means whereby that'cap is attachable to and detachable from thebarrel, as an end cover, and is attachable to and detachable from saidmeans for twisting the sack, to changedisplacement of the reservoir;each said attaching of j the cap being at a position of the cap, wherethe capis free from its other said attachment.

11. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, combined with a tWist-sack-located within theother end of the barrel and constituting a flexible impervious wall ofthe reservoir; a plug in the barrel end, and a rod therethrough'to twistthe sack; a removable barrel cap on the plug; and a clutch 'in the capadapted for engaging the twist rod when the cap is backed away from theplug, and

for disengaging the twist rod when the cap is seated on the plug. j V

12; In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel,

having at one end passages for ink and air, comthe sack being closedtothe reservoir, and the rod being tubular andconstituting an air ventto and from'the sack; and a cap adapted both for closing the barrel endand for applying power to the twist rod. 13. In .a fountain pen, an inkreservoir barrel, having at one end passages for ink and air, combinedwith a twist-sack located within the other end of the'barrel andconstituting a flexible impervious wall of the reservoir; plug in thebarrel end, and a rod therethrough rotatable therein and attached to onepart of said sack to twist it; means holding another part of the sackstill, opposing the twisting; a barrel cap; and a clutch for connectingand disconnecting the cap and 14. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoirbarrel, having at one end passages for ink and air, combined with atwist-sack located within, supported at, and vented toward the other endof the barrel, and having an impervious wall extending into thereservoir; means permanently securing one end of the sack to the barrel;a non-round socket at the other end of sack to receive a twist rod byaxial movement of that rod and to transmit to the, sack rotatorymovement of the rod so received.

15. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel,

the sack rotatory movement of the rod so received; a cap for coveringthe sack end ofthe barrel; and a clutch for engagement between cap androd, positioned to be disengaged when the cap is seated; and to becomeengaged after the cap has been backed, away from its seat for adistance. t r

16. In a fountain pen, an ink reservoir barrel, having at one endpassages for ink and air, com-- bined with a twist-sack located within,supported at, and vented toward the other end of the barrel, and havingan impervious wall extending into the I sack to its normal condition.

CHARLES K. LOVEJOY CERTiFIGATE OF CORREGTEO'N. Patent No. 2,007,576.July 9, 1935.

CHARLES K. LGVEFOY.

m was erroneously issued to that the above numbered pate have beenissued to Ehe the inventor said "Loveioy" whereas said patent shouldMoore Pen Co, Boston, Massachusetts, a corporation of Massachusetts, asassignee oi the entire interest in said invention, as shown by therecords oi assignments in this office; and that should he read with thiscorrection therein that the same may conform to i the case in the PatentQiiice.

Signed and sealed this 17th day 0 it is hereby certified the saidLetters Patent the record 0 f September, A. D. 1935.

Les! ie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of, iatents,

